Star Wars: Jedi Academy - Champions of the Force

Author: Kevin J. Anderson {DAYSSINCEBIRTH(birth=1994-10-01,birthphrase=Release)}{DAYSSINCEBIRTH} I read: June 7 - June 10, 2007 Non-spoilery short description:

~11 ABY, things continue from the previous book.

Totally spoilery summary:

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|<td>Kyp goes to Carida and inquires about his brother Zeth; the Imperials say he died in a training exercise years earlier. Kyp then launches a torpedo into the sun, giving only a few hours until it explodes. Once the Imperials realize he means business, they actually check for Zeth in hopes that Kyp can reverse the process. They find Zeth, but of course Kyp can't stop the explosion. He tries to pick up Zeth soon enough, but he gets incinerated moments before he can enter the Sun Crusher. Some Imperials get away in time, including Ambassador Furgan going after baby Anakin. Kyp goes on to take out a few relatively minor Imperial systems. Ackbar's mechanic Terpfen, finding himself not being controlled by the Imperials on the now destroyed world, wants to confess and help keep Anakin safe. He makes an escape from Coruscant and heads to Yavin 4, where he confesses to Leia. However, even she doesn't know the location of Anoth, so they have to head to Calamari to find Ackbar, who of course helps. Though Furgan and his folks get to Anoth first and heavily armed, the defenses there take most of them out. Furgan almost gets away with Anakin as his hostage, but he essentially trips and loses the baby. He gets in an MT-AT machine, but is pushed over a cliff by Terpfen in another. Leia goes off and leaves the kids with the Jedi trainees. Exar Kun repeatedly attempts to destroy Luke's physical body, though a combination of the trainees' skills and Luke helping control Jacen in lightsaber battling keep him safe. Eventually the trainees conquer Exar Kun by essentially... drowning the darkness in light? With him gone, Luke returns to his physical body. Having visited Luke and dropping off Leia and the kids on Yavin (prior to most events of the above two paragraphs), Han sets out to find Kyp and hopefully set him straight. Lando needs a ride to Kessel, where he hopes to set up a spice-mining operation, so he comes with Han in the hopes that they end up near there soon. They do find Kyp, and manage to lock onto him with a tractor beam. Kyp is almost ready to listen, but then they take control of the Sun Crusher using the control codes they had left over from the end of the first book, pissing Kyp off something fierce. Before he torpedoes the Falcon, though, the death (redeath?) of Exar Kun lifts a dark influence off his mind, and he surrenders. Coruscant not knowing what to do with him exactly, they leave it up to Jedi Master Skywalker. Luke puts Kyp through some tests, and is pretty satisfied he's light-heavy now. Meanwhile through all the above, Chewbacca, Threepio, Wedge, Qwi Xux, and others are going to the Maw installation to free slaves and gain what information they can, though a combination of new weaponry and self-sabotage on the part of the scientists and little forces there make things tough on them. Eventually many of that group escapes on the Death Star prototype and heads out of the Maw. Leia and Han back on Coruscant, Mon Mothma is in shitty shape and relinquishes her government position. Leia is the new head of state of the New Republic. Han goes off to finally deliver Lando to Kessel. Luke returns with Kyp, asking for the Sun Crusher. To really show Kyp has changed, he wants them to together destroy the Sun Crusher by sending it into a black hole (which really seems would have been a better idea than that dumbass planet idea from the last book). With Leia's new influence it gets done quickly enough, and off they go. Han and Lando reach Kessel, where they meet with Mara Jade. Moruth Doole has fortified himself in the prison, but they manage to break in and eventually take over. Doole runs off into the caverns and gets caught by one of those nasty creatures down there. Since most non-Doole forces there had either been destroyed or run off after the last battle, Lando gets his Lady Luck back. Before everything can be hunky dory, though, the Death Star prototype emerges from the Maw and blows Kessel's moon away. Since it has no TIEs or small defenses, though, little ships can cause it a hassle. The Falcon (with Han, Lando, and Mara) goes to take out its core, but as it goes back into the Maw they temporarily latch themselves on inside. Luke and Kyp show up at the installation, having been pointed there by the folks at Kessel, but the prototype isn't back yet. Daala's Gorgon (not quite dead) is there attacking the New Republic forces, though. Once the prototype shows up, the Falcon sets some timed bombs on the core of the Death Star and get out, but troopers are able to remove most of them before they blow, so the damage done is not final. New Republic forces get off the base, as it's going to blow. The Gorgon makes sure it does, in such a way that most people again think they've been consumed by the explosion, but really having taken the intelligence (that the New Republic forces couldn't get to) back to whatever remains of the Empire. Kyp has gone off with the Sun Crusher on his own, to take out the Death Star prototype. It doesn't have enough mass for one of his nova-causing torpedoes to effect it enough, but by getting the idiots in charge of it to chase him close enough to a black hole, they get sucked in. The Sun Crusher does too, but in time sends out a message container. The Falcon picks it up and... it's Kyp. Using Jedi abilities he crushed most bones of his body to squeeze himself into a small space and went into a deep trance, but he survives and is eventually able to be healed. So, major action is over. One of the Jedi trainees (Cilghal, Calamari ambassador) manages to heal Mon Mothma, who Terpfen says had been infected with nanomachines by Furgan. She through a drawn-out process moves them out of her body, just as a Jedi would move a rock. Even healed, though, Mon Mothma leaves Leia the head of state of the New Republic, saying basically it needs some fresh strong blood rather than sticking with her. On the planet where Ackbar had crashed the B-Wing, most of the rest of the characters have their happy ending at the finished replacement crystal buildling. Ackbar returns to being an Admiral. Anakin and Winter will return to Coruscant rather than going into hiding again. On Yavin 4, the Jedi trainees celebrate; some will go off to do good, others remain for more training.</td></tr>

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Preceded by Star Wars: Jedi Academy - Dark Apprentice.